Roy Simon O'Donovan (born 10 August 1985) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for

National Premier Leagues Northern NSW The National Premier Leagues Northern NSW (NPL NNSW) is a semi-professional soccer competition in Northern New South Wales. The competition is conducted by Northern NSW Football, one of two organizing bodies in New South Wales (the other being ...

side

Newcastle Olympic FC Newcastle Olympic Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Hamilton a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales. They currently compete in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW, the second tier of football in Australia. They were ...

. He has been capped by Ireland at Under-19, Under-21 and B level. O'Donovan has previously played for

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

DPMM FC Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (English language, English: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club; Abbreviation, abbrev: DPMM or Brunei DPMM) is a professional association football, football club based in Bandar S ...

, Mitra Kukar FC,

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

and

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states o ...

Club career

O'Donovan played schoolboy football for Blarney Street United Cork. In 2001, he signed for English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

as a trainee, before being released in December 2004 at aged nineteen without making a first team appearance for the club.

Cork City

O'Donovan moved back to Republic of Ireland and joined his hometown club

in early 2005. In his first season at Cork City they captured the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

championship after a twelve-year absence. He played mainly as a wide-right attacking midfielder after joining Cork, but was soon moved up front as a striker, becoming the top goalscorer in the

. He scored in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

win in July 2005 versus Ekranas of Lithuania, City were eventually eliminated by Slavia Prague. The following season they competed in the Champions league qualifying phase but came up short against Red Star Belgrade (Crevena Zvezda). He was named the

eircom Eircom Limited, trading as Eir ( ; stylised eir), is a large fixed, mobile and broadband telecommunications company in Ireland. The company, which is currently incorporated in Jersey, traces its origins to Ireland's former state-owned monopol ...

/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) Player of the Month for November 2005 and won the award again in November 2006 after being switched to centre forward from midfield, he was also a nominee for the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) player of the year the same season. On 21 November it was reported that

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

were interested in signing O'Donovan, but that they were denied permission to speak to him about a move by Cork City. On 7 July 2007, he scored as Cork City drew 1–1 with

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

club Hammarby in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

. He scored a total of 31 league goals in 74 league appearances for the club was top scorer in the 2007 Setanta Cup, as well as competing in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League in 2006 scoring 2 goals in European competitions in his time at CCFC.

Sunderland

In July 2007,

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

agreed a fee with Cork City to sign O'Donovan, however,

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

signed him for Sunderland on 7 August for a League of Ireland record transfer fee of €500,000, with O'Donovan saying, "''I had a choice between Fulham and Sunderland but when I spoke to the gaffer oy Keanemy mind was made up.''" The fee can increase to €1 million depending on appearances for club and country. He signed a three-year contract, He made his

debut for Sunderland as a 70th-minute substitute in the 2–2 draw with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

at St Andrew's on 15 August. His first start of the season came on 21 October in the 3–1 defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

at Upton Park, although he was substituted in the 46th minute. O'Donovan made seventeen appearances for ''the Black Cats'' in the 2007–08 season, starting just four Barclays Premier League games. His first goal for Sunderland came in a pre-season against

Portuguese Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

on 20 July 2008.

Dundee United

On 8 August 2008, he signed a one-year loan deal with Dundee United, under then manager Craig Levein. He made his debut for ''the Tangerines'' on 11 August in a 3–1 defeat to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

New Douglas Park New Douglas Park, also known as ZLX Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which serves as the home of Scottish League Two side Clyde, also formerly being home to Scottish League One sid ...

. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win over St Mirren on 25 October, after coming on as a 67th-minute substitute: the goal was a poignant one, coming in front of a full stadium of supporters who had turned up to commemorate the passing of the popular club chairman Eddie Thompson. On 1 November, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 57th minute of the 0–0 draw against

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

at the

Falkirk Stadium The Falkirk Stadium is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Falkirk, central Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Falkirk F.C., Falkirk and Lowland Football League club East Stirlingshire F.C., East ...

. In late December he was one of three players along with

Michael Chopra Rocky Michael Chopra (born 23 December 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. A product of the Newcastle United youth system, he spent six years at the club without managing to secure a regular first team ...

and Anthony Stokes recalled by Sunderland who were struggling with injuries.

Blackpool

On 9 January 2009, he signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for ''the Seasiders'' in the 2–1 defeat to

at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currentl ...

on 17 January. He played mainly as a right-sided midfielder. What had been a successful loan spell up to this point took a turn for the worse when on 10 March, he was taken to hospital after being taken ill with suspected

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

before Blackpool's game against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

. Two days later he had

keyhole surgery Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medli ...

to remove his

appendix Appendix (: appendices or appendixes) may refer to: __NOTOC__ In documents * Addendum, an addition made to a document by its author after its initial printing or publication * Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works * Index (publis ...

. He returned to action just a month later on 11 April in Blackpool's 1–0

West Lancashire Derby The West Lancashire derby (sometimes also known as the '' M55 derby'') is a local rivalry in English football between Lancashire clubs Blackpool and Preston North End. The derby has taken place across all four tiers of English football, but not ...

win over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

. He retained his place in the side for the following game, a 2–2 draw against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Southend United

On 16 September 2009, O'Donovan joined

on a one-month emergency loan deal. He scored on his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion, in the 3–2 win. O'Donovan made a further two league appearances plus one in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

before returning to Sunderland once the loan was completed.

Hartlepool United

On 23 February 2010, he joined

on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his debut for Hartlepool in their 4–1 home win over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

on 23 February 2010. On 6 March 2010, he scored his first goals for Hartlepool, a hat-trick against Southend, who he was with at the beginning of the season. O'Donovan went on to make 15 appearances scoring 9 goals before returning to parent club Sunderland at the end of the season.

Coventry City

O'Donovan signed a three–year deal with

on 25 June 2010 becoming new manager

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who was most recently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he ...

's third signing of the close season. He officially transferred to Coventry on 1 July 2010, five years after leaving them as an academy player. He scored his first goal for the Sky Blues against Bury FC in August 2011. O'Donovan suffered a fractured metatarsal in an nPower championship game against Barnsley in November 2011 which meant a significant period recovering on the sidelines. He signed on loan for Hibernian FC on his return to fitness on 31 January 2012 for the remainder of the season. O'Donovan returned to Coventry for the 2012–13 season and made some first team appearances under the new management of

Mark Robins Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Stoke City. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League with Manchester United, Norw ...

, but mutually agreed to terminate his contract on 31 January 2013.

Hibernian

O'Donovan was loaned to

in January 2012 for the rest of the 2011–12 season where he scored two goals against Kilmarnock FC and a goal in the Scottish cup quarter final against Ayr United en route to the Scottish Cup Final at Hamden Park that season, O'Donovans goal versus Kilmarnock FC was a memorable one and an SPL goal of the month nominee>

Northampton Town

O'Donovan signed for

on a free transfer in January 2013. He was signed by

, who had previously signed O'Donovan for Coventry. On 13 May 2013 he played in the 3–0 play-off final defeat to Bradford City FC at Wembley Stadium, he signed a new two-year contract in July 2013 at sixfields and started the season in goal scoring form but injuries curtailed his involvement in the first team after double hernia surgery in October led to a ten-week hiatus. In January 2014 following the dismissal of manager Aidy Boothroyd, O'Donovan flew to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

for talks with Brunei DPMM FC at the invitation of the Crown Prince of Brunei. A move he later turned down.

Brunei DPMM

After previously rejecting a contract after initial talks in January, O'Donovan signed a contract with Brunei DPMM FC in February 2014 as their marquee player in the Singapore S.League. He won his first pieces of silverware in Asia when picking up the Starhub S.League Cup in July 2014 and was also voted as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. O'Donovan finished the season with 26 goals in total and as a firm fans favourite.

Mitra Kukar

In February 2015, he was signed by Mitra Kukar of the Indonesian Super League. Having enjoyed success in Asia the previous season scoring 26 goals in 35 games in the Singapore S.League in all competitions with Brunei DPMM. He was to spend only two months in Indonesia due to the newly formed Indonesian Super League (ISL) being scrapped by FIFA regarding ongoing issues with the football association of Indonesia.

Central Coast Mariners

On 30 May 2015, the Central Coast Mariners announced that they had signed O'Donovan to a 2-season contract. He made his competitive debut for the club in an

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

match against

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

on 12 August 2015. He missed a penalty late in the same match. In his

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

debut against

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

on 10 October 2015, O'Donovan opened the scoring in the game finding the net after a shot from Fábio Ferreira was rebounded to him by the glory keeper Ante Covic. The Mariners won the match 3–2. On 31 December 2015, O'Donovan was involved in an incident in a match versus the Wellington Phoenix, where he deliberately head-butted Phoenix defender

Manny Muscat Emmanuel "Manny" Muscat (born 7 December 1984) is a former professional footballer who last played as a defensive midfielder or right back for Green Gully in the NPL Victoria. Born in Australia, he represented the Malta national team. Club ca ...

in retaliation for an off the ball elbow he received from the defender, O'Donovan was sanctioned during the match for the act as the referee awarded the player a yellow card. However, he was later handed an eight-match ban by the

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

disciplinary committee for his conduct, one of the longest bans in

history. Manny Muscat also received a multiple game suspension for his elbow that triggered the incident. O'Donovan finished his first season in Australia as the club's golden boot winner as well as the winner of the Hyundai A League 'Goal of the Season'

Newcastle Jets

On 19 April 2017, O'Donovan signed a two-year contract with another A-League team, the

. He reportedly turned down offers from

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

and

. In the

2018 A-League Grand Final The 2018 A-League Grand Final was the thirteenth A-League Grand Final, played on 5 May 2018. The match took place at McDonald Jones Stadium, with Newcastle Jets hosting Melbourne Victory, the first A-League grand final held outside a metropolita ...

he was sent off with a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

after a high boot to the head of the opposing team's goal keeper while trying to score a goal in the final minute of the

. He was subsequently suspended for 10 games

Brisbane Roar

On 24 June 2019, O'Donovan signed a two-year deal with

after choosing not to re-sign with

. He scored his first goal for the club in his debut on 13 October 2019, snatching a late draw against

in the season opener. On 17 November 2019, O'Donovan secured his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

for Roar in a 4–3 home win against Melbourne City.

Newcastle Jets

On 2 February 2020, O'Donovan signed an 18-month contract with the Jets. In 2020, O'Donovan became an Australian citizen and counts as a local player under A-League regulations.

Sydney Olympic

On 21 October 2021, O'Donovan signed with Sydney Olympic for 2022

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, one of the two organising bodies in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier L ...

Seasons. He made his league debut on 5 March 2022, in a 1–0 loss against

Manly United Manly United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW and their home ground is Cromer Park, in the suburb of Dee Why, approximately 15 minute ...

wearing the number 99. A week later, he scored his first goal for the club against

Rockdale Ilinden Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (commonly known as Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Rockdale, Sydney. Founded in 1969, by Macedonian Australians, the club ...

. O'Donovan prolific form continued throughout the season, helping his side win the NPL Premiership and winning the golden boot. He was also named in the NPL NSW Men's Team of the Year with teammate Darcy Burgess who was named as a substitute. On 18 November 2022, O'Donovan renewed his contract and was additionally appointed as assistant coach with head coach

Labinot Haliti Labinot Haliti (born 26 October 1985) is a former professional soccer player who played as a second striker or winger. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented Australia at youth level. Early life Haliti's was born in Pristina, and fled his homeland ...

prior to the 2023 season. Having scored over 50 goals across 3 seasons for the National Premier Leagues team, O'Donovan announced his retirement at the conclusion of the

2024 National Premier Leagues NSW The 2024 National Premier Leagues NSW was the 12th season of the National Premier Leagues in New South Wales and the second season under the revised competition format. The season began on 16 February 2024 and concluded on 25 August. APIA Leichh ...

season.

International career

In April 2008 O'Donovan was named in his first senior squad by new manager Giovanni Trapattoni for the upcoming friendly games against Serbia and Colombia. O'Donovan has played for the Republic of Ireland Under-19, Under-21 and B teams. He made his debut for the Under-21 team in August 2005 against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. On 18 May, he scored as the Irish Under-21s beat

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

3–0 in a

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Qualifying for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began in May 2006. Netherlands qualify as hosts and are exempt from qualifying. Of UEFA's 52 member countries, only the Faroe Islands chose not to compete. That left 50 nations attemptin ...

preliminary round match, He went on to make eight appearances for the under-21s, scoring once. On 21 November 2007, he played for Republic of Ireland B as they drew 1–1 with Scotland B in a friendly international at the

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, officially The Albert Bartlett Stadium, is a football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season ...

, Airdrie. In May 2007, O'Donovan expressed his surprise and disappointment at not being part of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

squad for the end of season international matches against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, a squad in which his

teammate

Joe Gamble Joseph Finbar Gamble (born 14 January 1982) is an Irish retired footballer. Gamble's playing career spanned 16 years and saw him play for a number of teams across England and Ireland, most notably his local Cork City, as well as being capped tw ...

was included. O'Donovan said, "I'm surprised to be honest with you. I've scored 25 goals in the last 25 or 26 games so I can't do any more. I would have liked a reason why I'm not in it, but that's life."

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the

. :B. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the A-League Finals Series.

Honours

*Eircom League Premier League: 2005 *Starhub Singapore League Cup: 2014

Individual

* Starhub S-league League Cup Most Valuable Player 2014 * A-League Goal of the Year: 2015–16 *

Professional Footballers Australia The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), formerly the Australian Soccer Players' Association, is an Australian trade union affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and FIFPRO that represents Professional sports, professional ...

Player of the Month for October 2017 *

Golden Boot 2022 *

Team of the Year 2022

References

External links

* *
Roy O'Donovan Interview

O'Donovan's football wanderlust shows no sign of fading
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, Roy 1985 births Living people Association footballers from Cork (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Expatriate men's footballers in Brunei Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Central Coast Mariners FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Brisbane Roar FC players Coventry City F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players DPMM FC players PS Mitra Kukar players Sydney Olympic FC players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Singapore Premier League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Irish expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Irish expatriate sportspeople in Brunei Irish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Naturalised soccer players of Australia 21st-century Irish sportsmen